Waylon's Blog

Waylon Rhoads Fusion Concepts at Nashelle Jewelry

If you have ever been to my shop in downtown Bend, the first thing you'll notice is that my place is kind of hard to find. It's in an upstairs suite, behind a tea house and a bakery. It's not a traditional jewelry store. It's my glorified work studio in a centralized location. I have a small display area, a small meeting area, and a decent size work shop. It was never my intention to have a retail location. I wanted to take that baby step out of my house, but not go full on retail. The initial costs of such an endeavor would surely bury my efforts to be an independent jeweler. I feel like I did the right thing, even though it does have obvious set backs. The complete lack of a store front deprives me of the impulse buyer, the last minute shopper, and the never ending stream of tourists visiting my beautiful city. Luckily, I have a friend who understands where I am coming from, because she has been there. Her name is Heather Nashelle.

Heather owns a successful jewelry company here in Bend, Nashelle Jewelry. She started doing jewelry in her basement studio about 16 years ago, and now runs a company that has national recognition. She has her own TV show, has a cosmetics line, two retail jewelry stores, a manufacturing shop, the wife of her best friend, and is the mother of six adorable children. Heather is ambitious with her business goals, but also understands the importance of caring for those in need, by providing nearly 500,000 meals with the proceeds of her jewelry sales!

Earlier this year, Heather contacted me for a custom job for her. She liked what I was doing with silver and gold fusion, and discovered that she needed some stacking rings for her fingers. I was happy to create those for her!

After completing this set of stacking rings, we began talks about having my jewelry featured in her Old Mill location. Since March of this year, I've had a nice selection of my "Fusion Concepts" jewelry in that store. The Staff there has been very enthusiastic about the line and have done well to ensure that I can continue creating this exciting line of jewelry. Heather has helped me actualize my hard work and creativity by allowing my work to be in front of her fans. When artists work together, they can achieve so much more than they could alone. That is a lesson she learned early on in her career. It's a lesson she is putting in to action with me, and it's a lesson that I will continue to pass on with those who are striving to become the artists they have always wanted to be.

The next time you see yourself in Bend, be sure to visit all the great things going on in the Old Mill District, especially all the cool things at Nashelle Jewelry, including my unique silver and gold fusion jewelry! You will be happy about it for sure!

There is something that happens in my mind when I get a custom order from another artist, and one who's work I have admired for a long time. It's a mental game changer, in the way that feel the ring must me created. When the eyes of another artists examine my work, I have to make sure that it looks exactly the way they envisioned it. That's the way it goes with every one of my clients, but again, it's a mental perspective.

I chose to make this ring from 22k gold, which is over 91% pure gold. The metal shows off the beauty of gold more than the lower purity alloys of gold. It's dense, heavy, and lustrous! And it's also a dream come true to set diamonds in. As you can see, the center diamond is set with a snag proof design, ensuring that it won't be a hassle to do all the things one would normally do with their hands. The setting also protects the diamond without taking away from its beauty. I bead set the side diamonds on the lower parts of the side of the ring, to ensure the longevity of wear, without taking away from their presentation.

As a personal jeweler for people of all types, attention to detail and customer satisfaction are my paramount objectives. Keep me in mind whenever you are looking for unique, premium quality, and independently created jewelry works, for getting the one you love to say "Yes!"

A 1.25 carat Blue Zircon is the center of attention with compliments of .45 cttw. of round brilliant diamonds, making this sculpted fusion ring a statement piece for those of a particular fashion persuasion.

Blue Zircon is a fascinating gemstone. It's most commonly known as the December birthstone. For me, it is one of my favorite gemstones. A crucial attribute of zircon is its refractive index, which is very similar to diamond. And that is cool, because the light passing through the gem slows down in a way that breaks up the white light into color, giving the viewer a dazzling display of color flashes, much in the same way you can see that with diamond.

If you viewed the last blog post, you saw how I have began incorporating sculpted lines and features with the textured fusion look. This ring is a continuation of that design concept. This ring is made for a right hand ring finger or pinky, although I notice several people want to wear it upside down, which is just fine with me. We all look at things a little differently, and I'm not one to force a perspective on other people. Look at this as you want, wear it like you want, and be happy with wearing it.

This ring will find its new home at The Wooden Jewel in Sunriver, Oregon. But you can still order this ring from the website.

To Become Bolder is to Become Better

Designing jewelry that makes an impression on the right person, is the goal for any new comer to the trade. Finding that intersection of loving your own work and selling it to the people that love your work, can be a struggle in the beginning. Often times, sacrifices of artistic expression, for making that which will sell, is common. Other times, it is simply coming up with that unique concept or look that will separate you from every other jewelry designer. For me, the struggle has been deciding which direction to go with my gallery work. Today, I am pleased to share with you that I have found the path!

The idea behind this design is to combine fine design elements, with the raw look of the fused gold on oxidized and textured silver, along with having a big center stone to establish the focal point. There is a richness to the look of this ring that I enjoy very much. And the unique look of it definitely sets itself apart from anything you can find anywhere else. It has an aesthetic that I feel proud of creating.

The view of the designated narrow side of the ring, to fit the finger on the narrow side of the finger.

Another key element to my ring designs, is the asymmetrical form for better ergonomics. Look at either ring finger. You will notice that the pinky side is longer than the middle finger side. Wearing a ring that has this unevenness-of-the-fingers taken into consideration, is much more comfortable to wear and isn't prone to rotating around the finger, like some rings do. Of all the complaints I've heard from customers, having a ring that spins, regardless of how well it fits, is the most common. This ring is designed to hug the finger and to show its proper orientation.

This ring is being delivered to its new home at The Wooden Jewel in Sunriver, Oregon today. The women there are a great group, and the store itself is one of the most beautiful in Central Oregon. If you haven't been down there yet, you should do yourself a favor, and check it out!

The Road to Recovery

The last two weeks have been a little rough for me. I had surgery to address the acute appendicitis that developed, but luckily, modern science based medicine has developed procedures that make these kind of surgeries far less invasive. Science by praised!! As of today, I feel back to my normal self and ready to rock and roll!

Revisiting Past Work

One of the things I love about doing custom work, is getting to see my clients on a semi-annual basis for cleaning and checking. Often times, they will share with me stories and experiences they have had since having them on their hands. The wedding set featured above belongs to my very first Fall Festival customers from three years ago. Kelly stopped by yesterday to have me clean these rings and catch up on how things have been. The experiences Kelly and Steve have told me about literally bring tears to my eyes. The compliments they tell me they receive are overwhelmingly positive, which in turn makes them feel even better about having them as the symbol of their love for each other. I feel like these rings have been a source of happiness for these two, and I can't tell you how amazing that makes me feel! I put my heart and soul into every piece I make, with the intention of making people happy. Not a bad gig at all!! Thank you to everyone that has come to me so far for custom work. And I look forward to working with those who haven't had something made by me yet. You won't be disappointed.